Hints of the Holidays Amid Sandy's Wreckage

Perhaps no part of New York faced such spectacular Sandy destruction as Breezy Point, Queens. In the midst of a four-foot flooding, a fire destroyed nearly two dozen homes in this working class Queens neighborhood. “It was like the ocean was outside,” Kevin Hernandez told the New York Times. “The wind was 80 miles an hour."

Even months later, this Rockaways neighborhoods is just beginning to dig out. But even among the burnt-out buildings and rubble, a bit of holiday cheer could be seen.

Christmas ornaments sit amongst the remains of homes destroyed by fire during Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point area of New York's borough of Queens. (Keith Bedford/Reuters)Christmas ornaments sit amongst the remains of homes destroyed by fire during Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point area of New York's borough of Queens. (Keith Bedford/Reuters)
A Christmas wreath sits amongst the remains of homes destroyed by fire during Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point area of New York's borough of Queens. (Keith Bedford/Reuters)
A Christmas tree sits in the remains of homes destroyed by fire during Hurricane Sandy in the Breezy Point area of New York's borough of Queens. (Keith Bedford/Reuters)